Permitting software built around your municipality's permit process.

How a permit workflow runs, from application to final approval

Every workflow follows the permit it was built for, so a fence permit and a commercial building permit can take different paths. A permit workflow can run through six steps like these:

1. The applicant opens the permit application online, completes its Smart Form and attaches the documents the permit requires.
2. If the permit carries a fee, the applicant pays it online, and the application goes in once the fee is paid.
3. Routing rules for that permit type send the application to the right department, where staff review it.
4. On approval, the workflow creates the inspection schedule in the Master Calendar and issues a work order to the assigned inspector.
5. The inspector receives the work order on a phone or tablet, completes the inspection, and adds photos and notes from the field.
6. At close-out, the workflow sends the applicant the final approval.

The applicant can receive an email at each status change. The Master Calendar keeps an audit log of every task, and it can send escalation notices when a review or an inspection runs past its deadline.

Permit management features your workflow can include

Each permit workflow is assembled from tools already in Diversified Municipal Center, so permits can share their records with billing, property and work orders.

• Online permit applications as Smart Forms, with document uploads.
• Online fee payment, so applications arrive paid and complete.
• Routing rules for each permit type, so each one follows its own review path.
• Inspection work orders created and assigned on approval.
• Every inspection on the Master Calendar, so no inspector gets double-booked.
• Email alerts to the applicant at each status change.
• Escalation notices when a permit or an inspection runs late.
• Renewal reminders for permits that expire.
• An audit log of every action on every permit.
• Each permit kept on the property record alongside its accounts and owners.

Municipal building permit software

A building permit usually carries more steps than any other permit a municipality issues: plan review before approval, inspections at several stages of construction, and a certificate at the end. A building permit workflow can keep all of it on one permit. Approval can build the inspection schedule in the Master Calendar, each inspection can go to the field as a work order, and the results and photos can come back to the permit and to the property record.

In Pennsylvania, Act 45 of 1999 and the Uniform Construction Code regulations allow each municipality to decide whether it will administer and enforce the UCC, according to the Department of Labor & Industry. A municipality that opts out only has to notify building permit applicants that they must use a certified third-party agency for residential permits and inspections, or the Department for commercial construction. A municipality that enforces the UCC locally is responsible for each building permit from application to certificate, and a building permit workflow on Diversified Municipal Center can keep that history on one permit and one property record.

Licensing and permitting software on one platform

Municipalities that issue permits usually issue licenses too, often to the same businesses and property owners. The same tools can run a License Management workflow for business, rental property, games of chance or any other license type, with application, review, approval, fee collection, renewal reminders and revocation following the rules for each license type. License history can sit on the underlying property or business record.

Rental registration and rental inspections can be built the same way, as the Rental Property Management page describes. Code enforcement citations issued through a Tickets & Citations workflow can link back to the property, vehicle or business they were issued against, so a property's permits, licenses and violations can be read in one place.

Permits and inspections for utility authorities

Utility authorities can use the same tools for the regulatory events they track, such as backflow tests, cross-connection inspections and hydrant flow tests. Customers can apply and pay online, and inspectors can receive work orders and sign off from the field, the same as in a municipal permit office.

A Backflow Certification workflow can schedule each year's tests, route them to certified testers who submit results online, and start enforcement steps when an assembly fails. Test history can tie back to the meter and the property, so compliance reports for regulators come from the same records. Townships and authorities with on-site septic systems can track inspections, pumping and repairs on the parcel through Onsite Sewer Management.

Benefits for citizens, municipal staff, and boards

Benefits for citizens

• Permit applications can be completed online, at any hour.
• Fees are paid online, with no trip to the municipal office and no check in the mail.
• Email notifications follow the application through each step.
• The audit log keeps a permanent record of everything done on the permit.

Benefits for municipal staff

• Every application arrives complete and ready for review.
• Typed Smart Form entries replace handwriting, so every application is clean and legible.
• Online payment means no application is held waiting for its fee.
• Nobody has to post and deposit permit checks.
• Inspection scheduling runs on rules, which takes human error out of it.

Benefits for boards and management

• Fees arrive with the application, which improves cash flow.
• A growing community can take on more permits while the process keeps its pace.
• A rules-based process treats every applicant the same way.
• Transparency and regular communication with applicants build trust in the community.

Municipal permitting software pricing

The tools a permit workflow runs on, including Smart Forms, Work Orders, the Master Calendar and online payments, come with both base packages of Diversified Municipal Center. The Local Government Package costs $6 per property per year and the Utility Authority Package costs $3 per property per year. Both include unlimited users, hosting and support, so a new inspector or permit clerk adds nothing to the bill.

Building the workflow itself is a process add-on. The Permits & Inspections process, which applies custom workflow automation to any permit or inspection type, and the License Management process each carry a one-time implementation fee. The pricing page lists every package and process, and a custom demo walks through the cost for your municipality.

Built on the rest of Diversified Municipal Center

A permit workflow draws on the tools already in the platform:

• Smart Forms can collect each permit application and the documents that go with it.
• The Master Calendar can hold every inspection beside the schedules of your other departments.
• Work Orders can send each inspection to the field and bring the photos and results back to the permit.
• Payments can take permit fees by card or bank account, alongside taxes, utility bills and citations.
• Property Management can keep every permit on its parcel's record.
• Website Integration can put permit applications on your municipality's own website.
• Diversified can configure the database to exchange data with the other software your municipality runs, such as GIS and finance systems.

Questions municipalities ask about permitting software